2 Wine Events: Support VCCool, then taste & buy wines for yourself!

Two great wine events tonight December 10  on the West end of Main Street, Ventura: a wine tasting to celebrate  VCCool’s new 501c3 status from 6-7pm at J’s Tapas 204 E. Main and a wine tasting and buy extravaganza from 6:30-9pm at Jonathan’s at Peirano’s. The food is fabulous, the atmosphere cozy, and both are conveniently located right next to each other and across from the San Buenaventura Mission in downtown.

First up: As the eyes of the World turn towards Copenhagen, Denmark and how our Global Community will address Climate Change, VCCool invites you to share an evening with us here at home. As a non-profit in Ventura that specifically addresses the issue at a local level, VCCool needs your support.

Join in conversation about building a sustainable future together during a lovely evening of wine, food, and friendship. This gathering is a free event with the purpose of raising funds, and nurturing friends and supporters as VCCool celebrates acheiving its 501c3 non-profit status as well as an amazing history of local action. The event also offers a sneak-preview of some exciting plans for 2010 as well. Bring your checkbook and make a powerful stand for climate protection by supporting a  local organization that is working hard on  climate action almost every day of the year.

Climate change is a serious problem for many existing wine regions of the world. As the climate changes, so do the growing conditions in the vineyards. Some areas will no longer be able to grow wine while other regions will. This is such a serious problem that many wine advocacy and educational organizations such as Wine Academy of Spain are putting resources into tracking it. WSA recent Wine Futures event in Rioja (which I had to pass up, unfortunately) offered sessions to discuss the problem.

Next: Get amazing wines at amazing wholesale prices, at the Annual Taste and Buy Event, Thursday December 10th 6:30-9pm at Jonathan’s. Taste over 30 wines from many of the best regions for only $10. RSVP today by calling 805-648-4853!

If you come by, be sure to say hi–I’ll be the one passing out Santacon Ride flyers (12/20 at 12:30pm) and Tweed Ride flyers (2/5 at 5:30pm). If it’s not raining, this bikergo gal will ride there to cut down on carbon emissions and because it’s fun! Then you’ll be able to check out my pink bikergo locked up outside. Ask me and I’ll let you take it out for a spin! Remember, don’t drink and drive–even a bike!

Green Drinks & Wine Blogging Wednesday #63 Prompt: Find Your Muse

wbw-newTonight, Wednesday November 11, from 5:30-7:30pm Green Drinks Ventura County will be held at Wine Essentials, 2390 Las Posas, Camarillo. It’s a free networking gathering for folks in green lines of business and activism.

In his prompt for the next Wine Blogging Wednesday, #63, Rob Bralow of Wine Post suggests: Find Your Muse. Here’s his guidelines for the November edition to be posted NEXT Wednesday, Nov. 18:

  • Choose a wine you know well and have enjoyed many times, but perhaps have not had the time or the motivation to write about OR a wine you have seen in your wine shop that you have been meaning to try.
  • Time how long Continue reading →

EWBC Day 2: A visit to a cork forest–but first, a word about TCA

winebloggers learn about corkSMRandal Grahm, forgive me, I know you believe in the screwtop closure, but after visiting the cork oak forests in Ribatejo, Portugal today as part of the European Wine Bloggers Conference, I am now a firm believer in cork. And, if you’re listening, and I hope you will be, I will tell you why. I may not convince you in this post but hopefully by the next one.

Cork as a closure for wine got a bad name because some wines became “corked” which means that they became infected with TCA and turned bad.

While this is a rare occurrence, if it is YOUR special wine that got corked, you’re not going to be a happy camper about it. You will be tempted to turn against cork. (Read another post about cork taint here.)

Alternative closures to cork are nothing new. Really. But they have become more popular in recent years. So popular that it has had an impact on the cork industry and that industry is fighting back. With both fists. And a LOT of money–millions in fact into research and development to understand where TCA comes from and how it can be prevented.cork rings at Amurim cork factory in Ribatejo Portugal

Turns out, TCA infection can come from a variety of sources, not just cork. The cardboard box, for example. Just about anywhere, actually. But cork was and is the prime suspect so the cork industry has figured out ways to sanitize the corks and remove the risk of TCA almost completely so that instances of TCA from cork sources are reduced to the point where the many benefits of using natural cork (instead of a screw top or a plastic cork) shine and win.

Yes, cork is more expensive, much more expensive than a screw top or a plastic cork which costs practically nothing and adds practically nothing to the value of the wine.

But there is more to the picture than a simple closure. And in my next post, I will tell you about the cork trees, cork forests, and the natural ecosystems and the human communities that revolve around healthy, productive cork industry–an industry which relies on YOU, the consumer and the wine producer, staying with cork.

And one day soon, I hope to show you pictures of my new beautiful cork floors!!

Live blogging EWBC 2009: Charles Metcalf’s Grand Tasting of Portugal

Charles Metcalf tasting at European Wine Bloggers ConferenceNext up at the European Wine Bloggers Conference: Charles Metcalf’s Grand tasting of Portugal. Metcalf wrote a book on wine and food in Portugal which makes him somewhat of an expert and certianly a worthwhile guide for a tasting of a variety of Portuguese wines. Certainly he has a lovely accent.

Organizer Ryan Opaz asked Metcalf to present wines that really tell a story about Portugal. As a wine writer from the UK, he’s trying to present a greater understanding of the unknown wines of Portugal.Which means there will be no wines from the Douro.

WINE #1: We’re starting with a sparkling alvarino, similar to the spanish albarino, from the vino verde region. Forgive me if I buthcer some spellings especially as I am live blogging very unfamiliar wines, regions, and who knows what else!

Thankfully, we’re assisted with the Adegga.com site which tells me I am tasting a Coto De Mamoelas Bruto Reserva Alvarinho 2006. It’s similar to albarino, and it’s quite aromatic. Aha! It’s a vino verde–in that that’s a blend. Here’s my ignorance showing–hope it’s a a sweet slip, showing my naivete. Metcalf's tasting

It’s only 11.5%! If I could find this wine, I would.

So many firsts this trip! Just today I’ve tasted about 6 new varieties, maybe more.

WINE #2: Next up, a wine from Covela which is in vino verde country but just on the verge near the Douro. It’s a biodynamic vineyard (I don’t think he’s said whether it’s Demeter certified or not).

This wine is avesso, chardonnay, and gewertraminer and since he uses non-traditional vino verde grapes, he can’t call it that.  He also makes an oaked white; this unoaked white is light, refreshing, aromatic and pleasant. Metcalf calls it harmonious and I would agree. Continue reading →

EWBC Session on the Future of Social Wine Media: new tech, media & publishing

Ryan Opaz of http://www.catavino.net is moderating a panel on “Social Media Brand Future: New Technologies, New Media, and Publishing” with Esteban Cabezas, Marcio Ferreira, and Evelyn  Resnick.

It’s a time of disruption, certainly, as marketing professionals and the products they represent try to find their way in a topsy-turvy world where they no longer get to tell consumers what to think about a product and what to do. Consumers can find out for themselves and expect to be part of a conversation. But how can, how will this all play out?

With help from folks like Ryan Opaz who is bridging the gap by organizing events like the EWBC, suggests Esteban Cabezas of the Wine Academy of Spain. And more people like him (and Esteban too!). We have to get personal, he also says. And that can be uncomfortable for businesses.

Consumers go to the net looking for help in finding find their wine nirvana. Wine bloggers help them do this, points out a woman in the audience.

What’s the role of the wine writer versus the role of the wine blogger? Both are “publishing.”

Big debate raging on who is  a professional wine blogger and what that might mean.

As Jo Diaz put it in a tweet, “wineries are having a hard time making sense of all of this media power. Who owns the rights to tell consumers what they’ll like?”

Check out @wineblog.org which is Jo Diaz on twitter for more of her tweets about this session and others. She’s a great tweeter and caught some of the finer points of today’s discussion. She’s also blogging from the conference so go to Jo Diaz’s blog what she’s seeing and saying!

EWBC Day 1: Able Grape’s Doug Cook on search friendliness or, how to help your audience find you

How can you bring quality traffic to your site by assisting search engines in finding it? That’s the topic for the next session at the European Wine Bloggers Conference with Doug Cook of Able Grape’s presentation on Search Engine Friendliness conveniently available for you to see on his site, Able Grape. I will be live blogging as best I can depending on my access to the internet.

Is more traffic better? Doug Cook asks.

No. Traffic that engages your site is better.  Does your audience see what you offer as adding value to the web or spamming you?

So how can you reach the people who want to hear what you have to say? How do you connect with people who want to connect with you?

First you have to understand the “long Tail” of search. Lots have been written about this concept. That’s because it really is key and important. When people are searching for something, they will each use a combination of terms which they think will get them what they need. When they land on your site with their search, if they don’t see what they’re looking for, they’re gone, onto the next site which may offer them their holy grail. They are NOT going to search your site to find what you know is there but they don’t know how to find.

So if you want good traffic with meaningful interactions what do you do? Continue reading →

EWBC: Session 1 Winery & Wine Blog Relations; Session 2 Monetising

The European Wine Bloggers Conference, like the American ones I attended in Santa Rose in 2008 and 2009,  is a confluence of various wine oriented businesses including wineries, importers and distribut0rs, not just wine bloggers.

Because I was trying to get online from my hotel room and had a tech there for an hour helping me, I missed this morning’s first two sessions and arrived in time to join Ken Payton, Amy Lillard, and Oscar Quevado in a discussion on Winery and Wine Blog Relations. They introduced themselves and then discussion commenced. Since the FCC has just changed the rules about disclosure, scaring wine bloggers everywhere, variations of the controversy dominated the conversation, including how do you determine who to send samples of wine to–how do you know whether a blogger has an audience at all or one that you want to reach.

In the second session I attended, Robert McIntosh moderated a session with Dan Coward, Rowan Gormley and Per Karlsson on “Monetising The Social Wine Grand.”

Once again, content is king. Offering content that people want to read and is valuable will lead to financial success of some sort–but not necessarily making money directly off your blog writing. So what do people want to read? What can you write about to develop an audience?

In a survey, readers in the Telegraph UK wanted to know what wines to buy at what price–mostly wines under $20.  Tell the consumer whether they should buy a wine or not. And give them a way to evaluate what you’re saying about the wine. But I know of several bloggers who are doing that well already. With so much wine being produced, there should be plenty of readers for all of us.

No surprise that the level of internet demand overwhelmed the resources and stopped many of us from bloggers and tweters in our tracks. Thankfully, my host Delfim Costa of Enoforum Wines came to my rescue by providing me with a “tmn” banda larga.” Somehow I am able to get on line when others can’t. Thanks Delfim! When I write and lose my content to internet snafus, I admit I get very frustrated. What’s worse is losing my writing like that tends to block the creative juices. We can’t have that now, can we??

Time for lunch and a tasting! Be back soon!